System and method for telematics for tracking equipment usage

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are described for tracking information of an equipment including a telematics device configured to receive data from the equipment to determine a telematics information. The telematics information includes at least two of an equipment type, a location, a duration in the location, and miles travelled. A transmission device is configured to transmit the vehicle telematics information to at least one of a third party entity device, a government device and a mobile device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/114,503, titled “System And Method ForTelematics For Tracking Equipment Usage,” filed on Aug. 28, 2018, whichis incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for equipmenttelematics, and in some examples to equipment telematics for trackingequipment usage and controlling and/or charging the equipment, e.g., forcharging taxes.

BACKGROUND

Telematics is an interdisciplinary field that can encompasstelecommunications, vehicular technologies, road transportation, roadsafety, electrical engineering, e.g., sensors, instrumentation, wirelesscommunications, etc., and/or computer science, e.g., multimedia,Internet, etc.

SUMMARY

According to some aspects, systems and methods provide for trackinginformation of an equipment including a telematics device configured toreceive data from the equipment to determine a telematics information.The telematics information includes at least two of an equipment type, alocation, a duration in the location, and miles travelled. Thetelematics device is configured to transmit the vehicle telematicsinformation to at least one of a third party entity device, a governmentdevice and a mobile device.

Other systems, methods, features, and advantages is or will becomeapparent upon examination of the following figures and detaileddescription. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods,features, and advantages be included within this description and beprotected by the accompanying claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example environment for trackinginformation related to taxing vehicle use.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an example logic of the telematics device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example logic of the third party entitydevice and/or government device.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an example logic of the user device.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example computing device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for providing atelematics system for equipment for efficiently receiving and processinginformation, e.g., to charge usage and/or tax the equipment. In someexamples, information, including one or more of miles travelled, energyconsumed, location information, type of equipment, charging details,etc., can be tracked and processed by the telematics system. In someexamples, the tracked and processed information can be used toefficiently determine usage charges and/or pay road taxes and/or otherusage, e.g., based on rentals, drone usage, etc., e.g., based on local,municipal, state and/or federal regulations, etc., and/orcompany/organization fees, etc.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example environment 100 for trackinginformation related to equipment usage, e.g., for charging/taxingequipment 102 a-n. Equipment examples include, but are not limited to,the transportation vehicles, (trucks, cars, buses, etc.) recreationalvehicles, (ATV's, off-road vehicles, drones, boats, etc.), and/orindustrial/home equipment (power generators, mining equipment,agriculture equipment, construction equipment, etc.). The equipment 102a-n can be driven by one or more engines and/or motors 104, e.g.,internal combustion engines and/or electric motors. The equipment 102a-n can include an electronic control unit (ECU) 106 in communicationwith the engine/motor 104. The ECU 106 can send control information tothe engine/motor 104 and receive feedback information from theengine/motor 104 and/or other parts of the equipment 102 a-n. The ECU106 can also communicate with one or more sensors 110, one or moredisplays 112, including audible and/or visual displays, a telematicsdevice 114, batteries 116 and a location device 117, to name a fewnon-limiting examples. The location device 117 can include a globalpositioning system (GPS) device, including one or more ofsatellite-based positioning systems, cellular based positioning systems,etc. In some examples, the location device 117 is incorporated into thetelematics device 114.

The telematics device 114 includes, and/or is connected with, atransmission device 115, that provides a communication link between theequipment 102 a-n and a communication network/environment 130 and/orother equipment 102 a-n. The communication network 130 can connect thetelematics device 114 to one or more of third party entity devices 140,government entity devices 150, user devices 160, etc., Other types ofcommunication networks/environments include, but are not limited to,vehicle to vehicle (V2V) and/or vehicle to infrastructure (V2I)communications. The communication network/environment 130 can includewireless and/or wired communication mediums, including but not limitedto, cellular communications, satellite communications, WiFi, Bluetooth,Ethernet, etc. The third party entity devices 140 can include one ormore servers 142, memory 144 and computers 146. The servers 142 and/orthe memory 144 can be located on-site and/or located remotely fromoffices of the electric vehicle infrastructure companies 140, e.g.,located in a remote computing environment, for example, a private orpublic cloud environment, e.g., AMAZON WEB SERVICES, INC. (AWS) or othercloud environment. The government entities 150 can include one or moreservers 152, memory 154 and computers 156. The servers 152 and/or thememory 154 can be located on-site and/or located remotely from officesof the government entities 150, e.g., located in a remote computingenvironment, for example, a private or public cloud environment. Theuser device 160 can include one or more mobile a processor 162, a memory164, a browser 166, a display 168 and a user interface (U/I) 170. Insome examples, the user device 160 is a mobile device, including, butnot limited to, smart phones, tablets, personal digital assistants, etc.In other examples, the user device 160 is a personal computer.

The telematics device 114 can collect information from one or more ofthe ECU 106, sensors 110, battery 116, location device 117, etc. of theequipment 102 a-n. The collected information can include one or more ofmiles travelled, location, miles/time within geo-fenced area, energyusage, size of the equipment 102 a-n, etc. Additionally oralternatively, the collected information can be processed by one or moreof the telematics device 114, the third party entity device 140,government entity device 150, the mobile device 160, etc., to determineone or more of, miles travelled, location, miles/time within geo-fencedarea, energy usage, size of the equipment 102 a-n, etc. Energy usage caninclude one or more of, but is not limited to, hydrogen, electric,natural gas, diesel fuel, solar, gasoline, etc. In some examples, e.g.,for vehicle type equipment, the miles travelled can be linked to thegeo-fenced areas and reported for direct charging/taxation. In someexample, the size of vehicle can be included in the determination oftaxes. In some examples, taxes can include state, federal, and/ormunicipality taxes, or other taxes e.g., depending on the needs oforganizations and/or geographic concerns.

In some examples, the telematics information to determine and reportroad conditions, as well as road usage statistics for use in developingapplications or services. In some examples, the telematics informationcan include parameters recorded by the equipment 102 a-n, including butnot limited to, duty cycle information, equipment identificationinformation, miles travelled, and miles travelled in geographic areas.In some examples, the telematics information can be sent to otherapplications, e.g., to help determine one or more of trafficinformation, weather information, etc. In some examples, acharging/taxation structure can utilize telematics data to derivecharges/taxes specifically tailored to specific device types anddistance utilization, e.g., accounting for differences in size andweight of the equipment 102 a-n.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an example logic of the telematics device 114.The telematics device 114 can monitor information from one or moredevices/systems of the equipment 102 a-n, including but not limited to,the engine/motor 104, the sensors 110, the batteries 116 and thelocation device 117 (200). The telematics device 114 can store, at leasttemporarily, information related to the monitoring, including, but notlimited to, miles travelled, energy consumed, location information,e.g., location when consuming energy, etc. (202). The sensors 110 caninclude one or more wheel sensors to determine miles travelled,battery/fuel level sensors to determine energy consumed, voltage and/orcurrent sensors to determine charge information, etc. Information fromthe sensors can also be time stamped with a clock, e.g. of thetelematics device 114, and/or location stamped to determine a time oflocation when the telematics device 114 received the information.Additionally or alternatively, distance travelled can be tracked by thelocation device 117, e.g., a GPS or other device. In some examples, someor all of the tracked information is not stored by the telematics device114 but directly passed along to other devices without storing theinformation.

In some examples, the telematics device 114 can process the telematicsinformation and send processed information to one or more of the thirdparty entity device 140, the government entity device 150 and/or themobile device 160 (204). Additionally or alternatively, the telematicsdevice 114 sends raw data to the third party entity device 140, thegovernment device 150 and/or the mobile device 160 to be stored by thememory 144, 154, 164 and/or processed by the servers 142, 152 orprocessor 162, to determine charge/tax related information for theequipment 102 a-n. Additionally or alternatively, the memories 144, 154,164 can store instructions which when executed by the servers 142, 152and/or processor 162 perform some or all of the logic described herein.

In some examples, the telematics device 114, or other processor of theequipment 102 a-n, can determine a fuel source being used by theequipment 102 a-n within a determined geo-fenced area, e.g., based onthe current telematics information indicating a location of theequipment 102 a-n. In some examples, the ECU 106, or other controlmodule of the equipment 102 a-n, can restrict a use of the fuel sourcebased on the current location of the equipment 102 a-n within adetermined geo-fenced area. For example, for a hybrid type vehicle, astate or municipality may require that only electric power can be usedin certain areas, while allowing gasoline or other non-electric power inother areas. The ECU 106, or other control module of the equipment 102a-n can control the power source used by the equipment 102 a-n based oninformation from the state or municipality. The information from thestate or municipality can be stored on the equipment 102 a-n and/oraccessed by the equipment 102 a-n, e.g., via the communicationnetwork/environment 130.

Additionally or alternatively, the telematics device 114 can send theraw or processed information to user device 160 for processing and/ordisplay. In some examples, the telematics device 114 communicates theraw and/or processed data to one or more of the third party entitydevice 140, the government entity device 150, and the mobile device 160,e.g., to use the information to charge and/or determine charges/taxes,as described in more detail below (206). For example, the third partyentity device 140 can determine charges/taxes based on received rawand/or processed telematics information, and send the determinedcharges/taxes to the government entity device 150 for charging to theowner and/or user of the equipment 102 a-n. Additionally oralternatively, the raw and/or processed telematics information is sentdirectly to the government entity device 150 for processing and/orcharging organizational charges/taxes.

In some examples, the telematics device 114 can associate vehicleidentification information, e.g., vehicle identification number (VIN)and vehicle description, or other information to identify the equipment,e.g., serial numbers, with the monitored/determined telematicsinformation, including, but not limited to, miles travelled, energyconsumed, location of charge information, other charging details, e.g.,amount of charge, etc., for sending to the third party entity 140, thegovernment entity 150 and/or the mobile device 160, etc. The devices140, 150, 106 can receive the vehicle identification and otherinformation directly and/or indirectly from the telematics device 114,and associate the received information with individual owners and/ordrivers of the equipment 102 a-n. The telematics device 114 and/or thedevice 140, 150, 160 can associate a credit card, debit card bankaccount, etc. of the individual with the telematics information. Thedevices 140, 150, 160 can charge the individual based on the receivedinformation for charges including, but not limited to, usage charges,state and/or federal taxes, autonomous driving and/or car sharingcharges, etc. In some examples, the equipment 102 a-n can includereaders for credit card chips for purpose of payment, in autonomous orother vehicles.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example logic of the third party entitydevice 104, the government entity device 150 and/or the mobile device160. The third party entity device 104, the government entity device 150and/or the mobile device 160 can receive raw and/or processed telematicsinformation from the telematics device 114 (300). Received informationcan include, but is not limited to, miles travelled, location,miles/time within geo-fenced area, energy usage, size of the equipment102 a-n, etc. For example, the third party entity device 104, thegovernment entity device 150 and/or the mobile device 160 can processthe received information to determine usage charges and/or taxes (302).In some examples, the vehicle telematics information further includesinformation on a duration that the equipment 102 a-n spends indetermined geo-fenced locations, e.g., within determined state lines, onspecified highways, crossing determined bridges, etc. In this way, thetelematics device 114 can eliminate a need for a user to separatelytrack when/where the equipment 102 a-n is being used and/or consumingenergy. In some examples, federal charges can be based on time of usageor miles travelled multiplied by a multiplier based on the type ofequipment 102 a-n and/or by a factor, e.g., the federal tax rate. Insome examples, state charges can be based on time of usage or milestravelled within the state and the type of equipment 102 a-n multipliedby a multiplier based on the type of equipment 102 a-n and/or by afactor, e.g., the state tax rate. In some examples, municipal chargescan be based on time of usage or miles travelled within the municipalityand the type of equipment 102 a-n multiplied by a multiplier based onthe type of equipment 102 a-n and/or by a factor, e.g., the municipaltax rate.

The telematics device 114 to provide the processed information to thethird party entity device 104, the government entity device 150 and/orthe mobile device 160 (304). In some examples, the telematics device 114sends raw telematics related data to the servers 142, 152 and/orprocessor 162 to process the information. The telematics device 114 canvary data sampling rates and/or compress the raw and/or processed data,e.g., including the vehicle telematics information, before storing thedata and/or sending the data to the devices 140, 150, 160. In this way,the determined sampled and/or compressed data can be optimized forprocessing and/or storage based on determined algorithms. The determinedsampled and/or compressed data can minimize cost of data transmission,e.g., to cloud storage and/or processing services, to the entity devicesand/or other remote data locations. In this way, the environment 100 fortracking information related to usage and/or tax charges canautomatically handle tracking and charging at the equipment level, e.g.,without the need for third party applications. In some examples, theservers 142, 152 and/or processor 162 can then charge back to an accountof the equipment user and/or owner for payment and other interactions.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an example logic of the user device 160. Theuser device 160 can receive vehicle telematics information tracked bythe telematics device 114 and/or processed by the telematics device 114,third party entity device 104, the government entity device 150 and/orthe mobile device 160 (400). The user device 160 can display theinformation to the user, e.g., on display 168 via web browser 166 (402).In other examples, the user device 160 displays the information via aweb portal or other application. The user device 160 can receive userinputs via the U/I 170 based on the displayed information (404). Forexample, the user device 160 can process the user inputs, e.g., to payusage fees and/or taxes via the web browser 166 (406).

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example circuitry, e.g., for one or moreof the ECU 106, servers 142, 152, and/or the mobile device 160. The ECU106, servers 142, 152, and/or the mobile device 160 can include aprocessing circuit 510 which includes a processor 512 to process theinformation tracked by the telematics device 114. The processing circuit510 can include hardware, software and/or firmware, or any combinationthereof. The hardware can include electronic components on a printedcircuit board, ceramic substrate or a thin laminate substrate, etc.Software can be stored in a memory 514, e.g., erasable, programmableread only memory (EPROMs) or flash memory, so the processor 512 can bere-programmed by uploading updated code, over-the-air (OTA) updates, orreplacing chips. It will be appreciated that the components, devices orelements illustrated in and described with respect to FIG. 5 may not bemandatory and thus some may be omitted in certain examples.Additionally, some examples may include further or different components,devices or elements beyond those illustrated in and described withrespect to FIG. 5.

In some examples, the processing circuitry 510 is configurable toperform actions in accordance with one or more examples disclosedherein. In this regard, the processing circuitry 510 may be configuredto process tracked vehicle telematics information. The processingcircuitry 510 may be configured to perform data processing, applicationexecution and/or other processing and management services according toone or more examples. In some examples, the processing circuitry 510 ora portion(s) or component(s) thereof, may include one or more chipsetsand/or other components that may be provided by integrated circuits.

The processor 512 may be embodied in a variety of forms. For example,the processor 512 may be embodied as various hardware-based processingmeans such as a microprocessor, a coprocessor, a controller or variousother computing or processing devices including integrated circuits suchas, for example, an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), anFPGA (field programmable gate array), some combination thereof, or thelike. Although illustrated as a single processor, it will be appreciatedthat the processor 512 may comprise a plurality of processors. Theplurality of processors may be in operative communication with eachother and may be collectively configured to perform one or morefunctionalities of the ECU 106, servers 142, 152, fleet manager devices120 and/or the mobile device 160 as described herein. In some examples,the processor 512 may be configured to execute instructions that may bestored in the memory 514 or that may be otherwise accessible to theprocessor 512. As such, whether configured by hardware or by acombination of hardware and software, the processor 512 is capable ofperforming operations according to various examples while configuredaccordingly.

In some examples, the memory 514 may include one or more memory devices.Memory 514 may include fixed and/or removable memory devices. In someexamples, the memory 514 may provide a non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium that may store computer program instructions that may beexecuted by the processor 512. In this regard, the memory 514 may beconfigured to store information, data, applications, instructions and/orthe like for enabling the ECU 106, servers 142, 152, fleet managerdevices 120 and/or the mobile device 160 to carry out various functionsin accordance with one or more examples. In some examples, the memory514 may be in communication with one or more of the processor 512, theuser interface 516 for passing information among components of the ECU106, servers 142, 152, fleet manager devices 120 and/or the mobiledevice 160.

It is noted that the terms “substantially” and “about” may be utilizedherein to represent an inherent degree of uncertainty that can beattributed to any quantitative comparison, value, measurement, or otherrepresentation. These terms are also utilized herein to represent adegree by which a quantitative representation may vary from a statedreference without resulting in a change in the basic function of thesubject matter at issue.

While particular examples above have been illustrated and describedherein, it should be understood that various other changes andmodifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe claimed subject matter. Moreover, although various aspects of theclaimed subject matter have been described herein, such aspects need notbe utilized in combination. It is therefore intended that the appendedclaims cover all such changes and modifications that are within thescope of the claimed subject matter.

We claim:
 1. A system for tracking local information of an equipment ona vehicle, comprising: a telematics device in the vehicle configured toreceive at variable data sampling rate, raw data of vehicle telematicsinformation comprising two or more of: energy usage, rate of energyconsumption, equipment type, vehicle owner's information, a vehiclelocation, a duration of vehicle in the location, distance travelled bythe vehicle, and weight and size of equipment; and a transmission devicewhich is internally connected to the telematics device, is configured tocompress the received raw data of the vehicle telematics information anddirectly transmit through a network, the compressed raw data of thevehicle telematics information to at least one of a third party entitydevice, a government device and a mobile device to determine a usagecharge based on the vehicle telematics information, wherein thegovernment device charges vehicle owner based on received vehicletelematics information, comprising: usage charges, state or federaltaxes, state lines, specified highways, crossing determined bridges andcar sharing charges.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the energy usagecomprises total energy consumed by one or a combination of batteryelectric power, hydrogen fuel, natural gas, diesel fuel, solar power andgasoline, and the rate of energy consumption comprises per unit timemeasurement of one or a combination of battery electric power, hydrogenfuel, natural gas, diesel fuel, solar power and gasoline.
 3. The systemof claim 1, wherein the vehicle comprises one of: transportationvehicles, recreation vehicles, industrial or home equipment, autonomousvehicles.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the transportation vehiclesfurther comprise one or a combination of: hybrid vehicles, electricpowered vehicles, rental or leased vehicles, fleet managed vehicles,cars, buses, trucks, the recreation vehicles further comprise one or acombination of: all-terrain vehicles (ATV), off-road vehicle, drones,boats, and the industrial/home equipment further comprise one or acombination of: power generators, mining equipment, agricultureequipment, construction equipment.
 5. The system of claim 3, wherein forautonomous self-driving vehicles, vehicle telematics informationcommunicated to an infrastructure network communication.
 6. The systemof claim 1, wherein each of the telematics device, the government deviceand the mobile device associates with one or more of: a credit card, adebit card bank account through connection with a mobile device.
 7. Thesystem of claim 1, where the vehicle telematics information furtherincludes information of a duration the equipment spends in determinedgeo-fenced locations.
 8. The system of claim 7, further including anelectronic control unit configured to restrict a use of a fuel sourceswitch to an alternate fuel source based on a determined geo-fencedarea.
 9. A method for tracking local information of an equipment in avehicle, comprising: receiving by an equipment in a vehicle, compressedraw data of vehicle telematics information which are compressed, by atransmission device which is internally connected to a telematics deviceof the vehicle, before being transmitted from the transmission device ofthe vehicle, the raw data of vehicle telematics information indicatesenergy and equipment use in the vehicle over a period of time, whereinthe raw data of vehicle telematics information are received at variabledata sampling rate by the telematics device, and the raw data of vehicletelematics information includes two or more of: energy usage, rate ofenergy consumption, equipment type, vehicle owner's information, avehicle location, a duration of vehicle in the location, distancetravelled by the vehicle, and weight and size of equipment; andprocessing the raw data of the vehicle telematics information todetermine a usage charge or a tax; and directly transmitting through anetwork, the usage charge or the tax to at least one of: a third partyentity device, a government device and a mobile device to determine ausage charge based on the vehicle telematics information, wherein theone of: the third party entity device, the government device and themobile device charges vehicle owner based on received vehicle telematicsinformation, comprising: usage charges, state or federal taxes, statelines, specified highways, crossing determined bridges and car sharingcharges.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the energy usage comprisestotal energy consumed by one or a combination of battery electric power,hydrogen fuel, natural gas, diesel fuel, solar power and gasoline, andthe rate of energy consumption comprises per unit time measurement ofone or a combination of battery electric power, hydrogen fuel, naturalgas, diesel fuel, solar power and gasoline.
 11. The method of claim 9,wherein the vehicle comprises one of: transportation vehicles,recreation vehicles, industrial or home equipment, autonomous vehicles.12. The method of claim 11, wherein the transportation vehicles furthercomprise one or a combination of: hybrid vehicles, electric poweredvehicles, rental or leased vehicles, fleet managed vehicles, cars,buses, trucks, the recreation vehicles further comprise one or acombination of: all-terrain vehicles (ATV), off-road vehicle, drones,boats, and the industrial/home equipment further comprise one or acombination of: power generators, mining equipment, agricultureequipment, construction equipment.
 13. The method of claim 11, whereinfor autonomous self-driving vehicles, vehicle telematics informationcommunicated to an infrastructure network communication.
 14. The methodof claim 9, wherein each of the telematics device, the government deviceand the mobile device associates with one or more of: a credit card, adebit card bank account through connection with a mobile device.
 15. Themethod of claim 9, where the telematics information further includesinformation of a duration the equipment spends in determined geo-fencedlocations.
 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising restricting ause of the fuel source or switching to an alternate fuel source based ona determined geo-fenced area.